Lahaina-based boutique Hana Hou by Hale Zen – which sells clothing, accessories, home goods, gifts and more – will be collecting cans of food and monetary donations for Maui Food Bank on Friday, Dec. 12, and Maui Humane Society on Saturday, Dec. 13.
Each night from 5 to 8 p.m., customers can enjoy the biz's Sip and Shop event, complete with a complimentary beverage for those ages 21 and over, wrapped up in a deal. Shoppers can get 20% off their entire purchase (excluding gold items) by bringing in six cans of pet or human food, or by donating $25 to either cause.
“We will be offering Aperol Spritzes, shopping, holiday music, and it should be really fun,” the shop’s owner Lisa Payne told Aloha State Daily. “We do this to highlight the need to help in the community, so it’s a win-win."
The last Ship and Shop event in 2022 accumulated over 450 pounds of food, she said, noting, “We added Maui Humane Society this year because they are so overloaded. I’m an animal lover. I went to school to be a vet and ended up in retail.”
Seasonal items include ornaments, knitwear, candles, home goods and décor, and more, according to the company. There are even “products that proclaim your Aloha Spirit,” per its website. “Over the years, we’ve garnered a collection of great local vendors,” Payne said. “Most of our online orders right now are Jellycats, which is a stuffed animal line from the UK, and our Lahaina products.”
“It’s evolved into an Anthropologie, but here in Hawaiʻi. We carry women’s mid- to high-end clothing, books, jewelry and a lot of local products.”
Kama'āina also regularly get 10% off.
Payne opened her first retail store, The Growing Keiki (still run by her partner), on Oʻahu’s North Shore in the mid-’80s and later moved to Maui in 1989 because she “wanted to raise her kids in the country,” she said. Her family settled in Haiku and soon after she launched another children’s store Designing Wahine Emporium, which moved from Pāʻia to Makawao. Hale Zen was born around that time on Lahainaluna Road, she added. The business later relocated to Dickenson Street, where it operated for 10 years until the building burned in the 2023 Lahaina wildfire. The next day, she recalled being told that the store was gone via word of mouth and that some of her family members were missing. They were eventually found.
“We’re grateful for our community because that’s who really has shown [up] throughout this whole disaster. Everybody helped everybody out and that’s why I think we’re all OK today,” Payne said. “We have so many great organizations over here that stepped up. I have to give a shout out to Samaritan’s Purse because they set up so quickly to help and are still helping people get in their homes.”
A couple months following the fires, Hale Zen organized an event with Maui Food Bank and Mahi Pono that distributed food and new goods to the community. Today, proceeds from the store continue to help directly support local families in need, she said.
In November 2024, Hana Hou by Hale Zen reopened with a new name into its existing warehouse space at Emerald Plaza Center. It has four employees, including Payne.
“It wasn’t a matter of if we would reopen, just a matter of when. … We wanted to be sensitive to price points as we reopened, offering things that were affordable and good quality,” Payne said. “I think beauty is such an important thing in life, and I felt like Lahaina needed to have access to beautiful things. I call it glimmers, little hopeful things.”
In the new year, she aims to expand the store's hours.
When asked her favorite part about being a small business owner is, she said, “Getting to interact on a regular basis with community members, who come in and share their stories with us. People still will walk in the door and start crying because it’s their first time back. It means a lot to people.”
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CONTACT
Hana Hou by Hale Zen
Lisa Payne, owner
157 Kupuohi St., Suite J4, Lahaina
Open Wednesday-Saturday, from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
halezen.com
Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros can be reached at kelsey@alohastatedaily.com.
